Some metal cutting operations are performed using a cutting insert which has at least a cutting edge that is coated with, or made of, a superhard material, for example, a superabrasive material, e.g., Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) or Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN). This kind of cutting insert may be used, for example, for machining very hard metals, superalloys, or the like, while providing the machined work-piece with appropriate surface quality, and/or obtaining other desired results.
In some instances, due to the high cost of superhard materials such as superabrasives, the cutting insert is assembled, for example, from two separate components: a cutting insert body and a cutting tip. The cutting insert body is formed, for example, of a material used for manufacturing ordinary cutting inserts, for example, cemented carbide such as Tungsten carbide, and the cutting tip, which is significantly smaller in size than the cutting insert body, is formed of a superabrasive material such as PCD or CBN. A pocket is formed in an end of the cutting insert body and the cutting tip is brazed to the pocket, or positioned therein using other methods.
However, the above-described manufacture of a cutting insert may be prolonged and expensive. Also, the assembling of a cutting insert from two separate components may result in manufacture imprecisions that reduce the cutting quality of the cutting insert. In addition, the cutting tip may undesirably become detached or torn from the cutting insert body, either partially or entirely, for example, due to extensive use of the cutting insert and/or due to a poor assembling thereof.